A man once took instruction from a wandering holy man. After a few days the holy man went away leaving his disciple to meditate in a hut on the outskirts of a small village.

The new monk would go out each day to beg his food. He would spend rest of his time meditating, as instructed by his guru. One day, while he was away from the hut, a rat chewed up his loincloth, which he had washed and laid out in the sun to dry. Now, the monk had only one other loincloth. The rat had left him with only the cloth he wore and a few shreds of the other one.

The next day when the monk went out to beg his food he mentioned his difficulty to some of the villagers. They were sympathetic and said, "Well, father, we can give you a new cloth today, but how can we give you a new cloth every day? Better get a cat. That will solve your rat problem."

The villagers gave him a cat and he took it to the hut with him. But he found that the cat made his life miserable, mewing day and night for milk. Meditation was impossible because of the cat.

The next day when he went to the village he asked for a little milk for the cat. The villagers said, "Well, father, we can give you some milk today, but it will be hard for us to supply you milk everyday. Find a cow, then you will have plenty of milk for your cat." And they gave him a cow.

Then the monk found that he needed food for the cow. So someone gave him a plot of land where the cow could graze. This went on until he was surrounded by a small, prosperous farm. He was now very busy growing food for his cattle and for the farmhands and himself.

One day the holy man came back that way to see his disciple whom he had left meditating in the little hut. He wanted to see how far he had progressed with his practices. The holy man looked about him, surprised at seeing the difference in the place. The hut was gone; there was a farmhouse in its place. The holy man saw some farm hands nearby and asked them, "Can you tell me where that monk has gone who used to live here in a small hut?"

The disciple heard the voice of his guru and came running out of the farmhouse. The holy man stared at him. "What has happened to you, my son?"

The disciple told his story. The holy man shook his head sadly and said, "Ah! My son! And all for a piece of loincloth!"

Location: U.K.

Vriju, thanks for the reminder about Maya and the web it weaves. However, it is difficult not to be engulfed in this web. We try, we fail and yet we must get up and try once again. For me it is very difficult and yet Sri Ramakrishna in the Gospel lets us know how we can achieve it while living in the world. The daily struggles are not easy. May we all have Mother's Grace in this journey

I am always amazed at how the Mother works and makes us understand things.

After posting this message I went back to my routine and received an answer (No voice in the sky) I did what I was doing and I saw that it is within the world that we find the Mother. She keeps sending us opportunities to work our way through the world. It is in our daily interactions with people, in the work that we do that the Mother is asking us to find the way and the meaning. It is not running away and turning our backs to the world but the work we are doing is itself the route to freedom and understanding.

I write this when I am inspired and yet tomorrow I will rush to the courtyard with doubts and questions. I guess those doubts will go when realization occurs.

Swami Vivekananda said. "you have read - 'Look upon your mother as God; look upon your father as God.' But I say. The poor, the illiterate, the ignorant, the afflicted - let these be your God. Know that the service to these alone is the highest religion."

Yes, dear brother Paritosh,

We are inspired to think a certain way...and then
those old doubts keep creeping back.

When one is firmy committed to the Absolute Concept; having intellectually and emotionally, fully grasped the idea, that we are the 'Living God'; then these doubts will disappear, like the early morning dew in the warm sun.

Best,

Tom
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